SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20191223-793B0-2147375849. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Whirlpool WMH53520CS (Whirlpool WMH53520CS 2.0 cu. ft. Over-the-Range Microwave Oven with Steam Cooking). Incident: Just over one year ago, the Whirlpool microwave WMH53520CS that was purchased was part of a bundle from Spencer's Appliance in Oct 2016, caught on fire while baking a potato. The unit was deemed out of warranty, and a countertop replacement was loaned by family until a new comparable, over the range model, could be purchased. Today while looking at a comparable unit, it was discovered that this unit was recalled, but the serial on this unit TR62593566 was out of the range of recalled units. There was a significant fire, internal to the unit, and smoke and heat damage to the surrounding cabinets. The unit is still in place, as it was when the fire occured, and can be inspected for verification that the problem occurred with the unit. We feel that the unit should be replaced by Whirlpool ]and want others to know that this problem likely impacts units outside their given serial number range.